Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love

RIPENED TINGLE'S BALLOON TRIP OF LOVE

Despite what the title may tell you, there is basically little to no balloon-based gameplay. Really, it's just a point-and-click game with some money management aspects that doubles as a dating simulator. At the end of the day, it's just The Wizard of Oz starring Tingle, and follows Tingle as he gets sucked into a magic book where he has to make his way through a mystical land, accompanied by three companions, and win the love of the kingdom's princess. I . . . don't get it.

Anyway, Tingle is our main character, and his gameplay is, again, pretty basic, though at times he can use various touchable items, such as a baseball, a slingshot, rope, and a train car. He can also make scary faces, and uses balloons to travel between book chapters in cutscenes. Tingle's main companions are: Kakashi, a small scarecrow who can crawl, pick things up, get thrown by other players, and get carried away by crows; Buriki, an alien robot who can scan things, connect to electricity, and trip into things; and Lion, a very strong lion who can lift bells, knock trees over, and pick vegetables. Not quite enough on their own, but . . . together?

As for our NPCs, Barkle returns, but still doesn't do much. Your main potential love interests that you can woo are: Sensei, a caring village girl; Azusa, a train enthusiast; Iona, a seed saleswoman; Liar, a strange creature that only speaks in lies; and the Princess herself. I would also like to call attention to Yamori, a ninja who appeared in both story-based Tingle games. In the first, you could hire him out as a bodyguard where he wielded a ninja blade. Here, you can find him hiding in multiple locations and taking various disguises, and will reward you when you find him. He can also leap really high, attach himself to a kite, and throw smoke bombs. There . . . might be something there.

And now for our villains. We first meet Segare, a dashing prince who competes against us to win the hand of the princess. He is seen wielding a sword and riding a horse, leaping high, piloting a giant mech equipped with rocket launchers and a ramp, causing all manner of sabotage and vandalism, and pulling up a spiked wall to block Tingle in. He turns out to be the son of Majiyo, the witch that gave Tingle the book in the first place, who wants to collect energy called Feropon, given off by a man deluding himself into believing he has a chance with someone way out of his league, and picks Tingle as the perfect target. (Not gonna lie, I kinda snickered). She can shapeshift, teleport, become gigantic, float, send out bee, worm, and snake creatures to attack, and she takes on a final form in her boss fight.

The story mostly takes place inside a giant book, with letters all around Winnie the Pooh-style, and you work your way through a pretty generic Wizard of Oz-style landscape, complete with a farm, a forest, a train station, and a castle.

And I think we've just about covered it. Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Tingle: fight cloud, money management, fireworks, make maps, fly with balloons, drop bombs, cook, shovel, bat, stretch and leap, rupee blast, baseball, slingshot, rope, train car, scary face

Pinkle: potential echo fighter or gimmick rep

Tingle's companions (Kakashi, Buriki, and Lion): crawl, pick things up, get thrown, carried by crows, scan, connect to electricity, trip, lift bell, knock tree over, pick vegetables, slingshot, scary face, seeds, train car?

Sensei, Azusa, Iona, Liar, and Princess

Aba: potential gimmick rep

Teddy Todo/other bodyguards

Yamori: ninja blade, hide, disguise, leap, kite, smoke bombs

Uncle Rupee: sofa, lightning, table shields, cats, grand form, green cloud, giant head, bodyguards with rupee guns

Segare: sword, horse, leap, giant mech, rocket launchers, ramp, sabotage, vandalism, spiked wall

Majiyo: shapeshift, teleport, become gigantic, float, bee, worm, snake, final form

Oinker: bombs, swords, shields, lances, spells, rolling around on balls, sword spin, rage circle, more Oinkers, meteors, float, slash, waves of magic

Captain Stalfos: fireball, swords

Bosses:

Death Bug

Bana Bana

Dora Dora

Baron

Stages:

Tingle's Room

Port Town

Western Pool

Hero's Shrine

Pirate Hideaway

Deku Temple

Insect Cavern

Desma's Labyrinth

Captain Stalfos's Ship

Cape Treasure

Deku Forest

Gooey Swamp

Mount Desma

Fairy Garden

Auros Ruins

Balloon Fight

Book

Emerald City

Thanks for reading! Next up, we have one single Tingle to mingle with: the Too Much Tingle Pack.